The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for attaching a soft cover to a book block. A book block is an assembly of pages forming a book.
A known book binding system includes a book block conveyor assembly having a plurality of clamps which grip book blocks. The clamps carry the book blocks to a first station where a rotary knife cuts off the folds at the backs of the book blocks. The book blocks are then sequentially conveyed to a second station where the backs of the books are roughened. At one or more gluing stations, glue is applied to the roughened backs of the books. A cover feeder sequentially feeds covers to a cover applying station in a registered relationship with the books. After the covers have been applied to the books, the books are delivered to a trimmer for suitable trimmer operations.